Tuesday, June 30, 2020

I have done this before back in the winter if you are a long time reader – and I have talked about my love of Refinery 29’s Money Diaries and The Kitchn’s Grocery Diaries. I just find this stuff interesting! What about you? Anyway, check these out if you are interested and let me know what you think!

So, let’s do a quick recap. I haven’t left the house to work since March 13. I had a bit of a break for two weeks while my district got their plan together and then during our “spring break”. I worked from home from April 6-May 28. That took up a lot of time and the other time I had left was spent meal planning, prepping, and ordering groceries. I did do a bit of online shopping, but not much. Typically I spend more in the summer. I have the time, I really like summer sandals, you catch my drift.

Some other fun facts…

I have only filled up my gas tank 3 times since March 13!

I have continued to do Kroger pick up most weeks and Dinnerly meal service most weeks. This ensures I am not doing much impulse buying at the grocery and sticking to my plan.

I decided to do my week from Monday June 22-Sunday June 28. This is just food and extras. I’m not including any other bills.

Here we go!

Monday, June 22: Mason left for his lake trip. I spent the morning doing chores and helping when he needed help. I wanted to be home when he was picked up around 1:00.

I went out to look at Versona for fun around 2:00 p.m. It is at an outdoor mall so I only went in one place. It was almost empty and all wore masks.

Versona: $22 (4 pairs of earrings) I showed you these last week on the blog and I have worn 3 of the 4 already!

Raising Cane’s Chicken: $20 – Jack really likes this and I wanted to do some treats for him while Mason was gone. I went ahead and bought this early and then just warmed it up in the oven when it was dinner time.

Dairy Queen: $10 – Jack loves a Heath Blizzard and so does Tom!

We ate our chicken and then ended up in a very deep conversation with Jack about the state of our country, the virus, his future in college, and some other weighty topics. It was very emotional. I felt that the Blizzard was needed so he and I went to get them and I could tell he felt better after getting things off his chest. Teen parenting is hard, you all. Teen parenting during a pandemic is even harder.

Tuesday, June 23:

Panera $0: I went out and got my free coffee deal early in the morning. Check out their deal with free coffee until September. I signed up for it on Monday and was eager to try it out.

Jack and I did some shopping for new clothes for him. He even got up earlier than normal to do this. I did not get anything! I was really proud of how Jack looked at prices and kept his distance from other shoppers. He was really pleasant to shop with. We wore masks and dressing rooms were closed.

Steinmart: $102.94

Kohl’s: $41.74

He found 6 shirts, one pair of pants, and two pairs of socks for less than $150. Everything fit when he tried it on for us. Yes, he even agreed to try it on for Tom and I after dinner that night.

Wednesday, June 24:

I went by myself to another store (Von Maur) for pants for Jack. I found two pairs for $50 ($25 each on sale). I got one of them for Mason. They wear the same size but Mason is slightly shorter and skinnier than Jack. I’m talking probably a half an inch in height and 10 pounds maybe. So, not enough to wear different sizes.

Dinner from Thai Cafe: $40 (This is another meal Jack loves and Mason doesn’t really like much.) We always split two orders of chicken pad thai between the three of us and have enough for leftovers.

I could tell Jack was really missing Mason. He agreed to watch several episodes of New Girl with me after dinner. That was nice.

Thursday, June 25:

Free Panera coffee

Free library pick – I was giddy that my library started letting us call to make appointments to pick up books on hold.

I had a friend over for patio happy hour but didn’t buy anything. I had charcuterie board stuff and cocktail stuff already.

Mason returned home and I made spaghetti for dinner and it was so nice to eat all together.

Friday, June 28: Tom was off. He decided to take off most Fridays in June and part of July instead of taking a week off. He went paddleboarding on the river in the morning and then we did a boat lunch later and took Ernie. That night we just went to hear outdoor music and then I made us a late light dinner after with the boys.

Saturday, June 29:

Home Depot trip for patio rug, a plant, new lightbulb, mouse traps, and maybe one other thing $170

Cane’s for dinner for boys $11 – not normal to do this twice in a week but it was close.

Sunday, June 28: We were going to have a couple over for a socially distanced patio happy hour so I needed a few items for that and to fill in the meals for the following week. My gas tank was also empty.

Kroger Gas: $49

Kroger Groceries: 74.11

Take Out for Dinner from Shiraz Mediterranean Grill $50 (The boys wanted this on Friday but it was already closed when they told us – We had gone to listen to music and said we would bring food home – so we promised it for the next night we were all home for dinner) It is expensive take-out but we always have leftovers and I tipped $10.

Thoughts on the week: I spent way more on take out but I had planned for this with Mason gone. Also, I skipped Dinnerly this week and had a lower grocery bill, too. Jack needed new clothes for college and this was a good time for us to have one on one time. I already did a little bit of shopping with Mason the week before but I plan to take him one on one, too. Then, Tom and I will do another college dorm room trip with them after the 4th or whenever the stock is out.

Have you ever recorded spending for a week? It’s very eye opening!

Amy